<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>The Sweet Taste of a Secret by VenJubilation</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29404212">The Sweet Taste of a Secret</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/VenJubilation/pseuds/VenJubilation'>VenJubilation</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Claudevain Valentine Weekend, Drabble, Fluff, M/M, Two Shot, Valentine's Day, Very mild sexy times in second chapter, no beta we die like Glenn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 10:15:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,750</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29404212</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/VenJubilation/pseuds/VenJubilation</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Claude has a crush, Sylvain is oblivious, they're both helpless fools who fall in love.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sylvain Jose Gautier/Claude von Riegan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Claudevain Valentine Weekend</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Gift of Chocolates</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Wanted to post a little something for Claudevain Valentine Weekend, so here's a small two-shot of combined prompts to get the days going.</p><p>Day 1/2 - Chocolate &amp; Gifts</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was a beautiful day when Sylvain decided to take his usual stroll around the Monastery grounds. Mornings like this deserved to be enjoyed in bliss, without any worries of the responsibilities that were sure to come later on in time. After all, life was too short to spend daylight indoors, wasted on swinging a sword against a dummy or with his nose in a book. That is why he was there to take advantage of the great gift of nature the goddess bestowed upon him! ...And was most definitely not avoiding his morning chores.</p><p>During his walk, he occasionally bumped into a few of his peers, greeting them with a simple ‘good morning’ or a compliment to put a smile on their faces. He made sure to cleverly avoid the path of both Seteth or the Professor, which soon led him to where he found Claude and… Annette?</p><p>Sylvain kept his distance as he watched the exchange between the two. He wasn’t exactly one to be nosy, but he couldn’t miss a good opportunity for something to tease his chess mate about during their next session–much less if it also involved his own classmate. So with focused eyes, he saw as Annette peeked over at whatever it was Claude was holding in his hands. She gave a playful push and one of her endearing smiles, leaving Sylvain to assume the two must have had a heartful exchange.</p><p>They spoke for only a moment longer before Annette walked away with a wave. She caught a glimpse at Sylvain, briefly pausing in her step before sprinting to wherever her next destination was. He raised an eyebrow, shaking his head without much thought or question before deciding to approach Claude.</p><p>"Hey Claude, what'cha got there?" Sylvain asked as he walked up to Claude from behind and peeked over his shoulder. </p><p>Thankfully, Claude didn't seem bothered by this. Instead, he merely hummed as if considering whether or not to give Sylvain a real answer. He then turned around to face him and held up a small sack. </p><p>"I... was given some chocolates!" Claude responded with a ghost of a smile. "Sadly, I'm not much of a candy person. Want 'em?" </p><p>"You're going to give these away just like that? Felix tried to do that earlier too–man, what's wrong with you guys? You should appreciate the hard work a cute girl does for you!" Sylvain exclaimed, shaking his head in disappointment. “I’m assuming Annette was the one who gave them to you, right? Don’t think I didn’t see that exchange between you two.”</p><p>“You saw that?”</p><p>“Saw the whole thing! To think you would accept her chocolate but won’t bother to enjoy them… Claude, you’re killing me here.”</p><p>In turn, Claude laughed–light and airy, as if breathing out. “Then why not be the one to enjoy them for me?”</p><p>“And ruin the sanctity of a Devotion’s Day gift from one to another? What kind of a man do you take me for, Riegan?” Sylvain responded, a hand momentarily coming up to his chest as he feigned offense.</p><p>The brunet chuckled, fingers working to open the cloth and retrieve one of the pieces as he spoke, "They'll most likely be more appreciated by you than me." Claude lifted the piece to Sylvain's mouth and pressed it against his lips. "Open up," he said with a wink. </p><p>Suddenly, Sylvain felt his heart drop and he blinked. His mouth opened without hesitation after the phrase was said and his eyes remained trained on Claude as the piece was pushed into his mouth, his fingertip just barely grazing over his bottom lip as he pulled away. The chocolate sat in his mouth for a second, quick to begin melting before it was chewed and swallowed, but Sylvain held no recollection of its taste and texture. The only indication that the chocolate ever entered his mouth was the tangy aftertaste and the sensation of something touching his lips.</p><p>His only memory of the last few seconds was of those striking green eyes lighting up mischievously.</p><p>"Well? What do you think?" Claude soon asked, the edges of his lips curving up slightly. </p><p>"Good." <i>What did it even taste like?</i> "Really good." <i>Was it even actually chocolate?</i> "Best I've ever had actually, but that’s no surprise considering how much love must have been put in those. Lucky you to have gotten someone who's good at making chocolate. Give it a try, you may like it." Sylvain finished with a wink of his own, a subconscious attempt to distract himself from his increased pulse pounding throughout his being.</p><p>Claude's smile only grew and he closed the bag with a pull of its string. "It's bad luck to keep something that's meant for someone else," he said, bringing up Sylvain's hand to place the bag in his palm. "These are actually for you." </p><p>"Oh no, you're not just going to dump these on me and move on–" </p><p>"No, really, they're for you." </p><p>"But I thought Annette gave them to you." </p><p>"I never confirmed or denied if she was the one who gave them to me. ...But perhaps it was a bit of a small lie in the heat of the moment," Claude confessed. "They're for you, champ, so I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it. I spent all night trying to get that chocolate mix right; Annette was actually the one who helped me."</p><p>Sylvain furrowed his eyebrows, now confused by what he was being told. "But why would you make me chocolate? N-Not that I don't appreciate it! I do, but I'm not sure I understand..." </p><p>"I’m sure you'll understand soon," Claude responded before giving Sylvain a pat to the shoulder as he walked away. "Catch you later."</p><p>"Hold up, wait, Claude–!" Sylvain started, turning on his heels to look at him. The young noble continued on his way, sparing not even a glance over his shoulder. "...What is this for?" He mumbled to himself, honey eyes looking down at the gift.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Morning After Reminiscence</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A confession turns into a lookout mission and mornings are meant for looking back at the happier moments in life.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Day 3/4 - Free Day (Memories) &amp; Morning After</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <i>The next few days happened in the blink of an eye. Sylvain found himself questioning Claude’s gift more often than not, wondering if it truly was meant for him or if it was a clever way to get him to accept the pass-along-chocolates. One night, he sat at his desk with a book open on its surface but his attention remained elsewhere. The black sack sat on the corner of the desk and, one by one, he would eat a piece of chocolate until the bag eventually became empty.</i>
</p>
<p>At least the chocolate’s good, <i>he thought to himself after he finished them, finally able to enjoy the flavor they held. It was milk chocolate with notes of coffee–nothing too sweet or too bitter, safe but interesting.</i></p>
<p>
  <i>Sylvain figured Claude knew exactly what he was doing with his gift, making him question the gesture on top of the flavor. It consumed his mind, piqued his curiosity, and soon he found himself standing in front of Claude’s door that very night. A hand was raised and before he could knock, the door opened and revealed the Golden Deer leader, bedhead and in his casual wear.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“What a pleasant surprise,” he commented with a tired expression. “I don’t suppose you were just going around standing in front of doors for fun, were you?”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“What’s the meaning of this?” Sylvain asked with no hesitation, lowering his hand to retrieve and hold up the now empty sack.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Claude blinked slowly, as if his brain was still trying to catch up with what he was being shown. “It’s an empty bag? Oh… Oh! Did you finish them already?” He responded, slowly becoming more alert as the realization hit him. “I didn’t think you liked them that much, but what a relief.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“Why did you give this to me on the Day of Devotion? You should have been giving it to a girl you like,” Sylvain said, his lips then pressing into a thin line.</i>
</p>
<p><i>“Technically, that’s a day to give a gift to</i> anyone <i>you like. It’s just traditional for a man to give it to a woman,” Claude commented, leaning against his door frame. “Come on, Gautier, I thought you were smarter than this. Don’t think I haven’t seen you hard at work in the library late at night.”</i></p>
<p>
  <i>“How did you– Nevermind! So are you trying to say that you gave these to me because you… have a crush on me?” The question felt strange to ask. He was never in a position of uncertainty or genuine curiosity when it came to the matters of crushes. Either the girl liked him or she didn’t, but it was always obvious.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“Yep,” Claude confirmed, suddenly finding his fingernails to be more interesting than the conversation they were having.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“And you couldn’t just tell me this because…?”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“Oh but I have told you before. Just thought you were cleverly rejecting me all this time until I figured out you were just oblivious.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“First of all, that hurts to hear,” Sylvain commented with the furrow of his brows. It didn’t actually hurt but it did make him think twice if he had any other encounters that may have been similar.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“Second?” Claude asked with a raise of his brow as he glanced back up at Sylvain, the quirk of his lips just barely turning into a smirk.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“Second, you should’ve just made it more clear.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“Can’t make it any more clear than me blatantly stating that I like you to your face.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“When was this?!”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“After our chess match, last month. We were cleaning up the table, I told you, and you said, ‘I like you too Claude, we should hang out like this more often!’ Needless to say, I was at a loss for words on how to repeat myself after a response like that. It’s not often I bear my feelings like that,” Claude frowned.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Sylvain sighed, having remembered that day well. It was only the third time they got into the habit of playing chess together and when Claude told him he liked him, he figured it was more as a playing partner than a crush. It never occurred to him that the house leader, the heir of the Leicester Alliance, would have an interest in him that went beyond friendship. Then again, he never thought anyone would hold genuine feelings for him.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“You could have repeated yourself, I would’ve gotten the hint then,” Sylvain finally responded, though he knew it was a lie. His doubt would have overpowered the truth of Claude’s words. “Just… grab my face, look in my eyes, and tell me. There’s no way I would have misunderstood that.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Claude raised an eyebrow, eyes briefly looking him up and down before he pushed himself away from the door frame. Slender hands came up and cupped Sylvain’s face, his thumbs just barely caressing the stubble on his cheeks. “I like you, Sylvain.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Sylvain’s eyes caught Claude’s stare and he focused on the reflection of the hallway candle’s light in orbs of green to ignore the increase of his heart rate. He swallowed dryly, inhaled shakily, and finally responded, “Are you free to go out with me tomorrow night?”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Claude chuckled, letting go of Sylvain’s face. “I’m not sure, let me check my busy schedule and I’ll get back to you.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“You’ve got to be kidding–”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“Free time is a luxury when you have responsibilities,” Claude responded with a wink, squeezing past Sylvain and closing the door behind him. “Speaking of responsibilities, I have a few to take care of right now, so if you’ll excuse me…”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“It’s almost midnight, Claude.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“Which is the perfect time to raid through the new books that came in before Seteth gets a chance to purge through all the ones he deems to be inappropriate.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“You’re gonna get caught, there’s no way Seteth would leave them around just like that,” Sylvain said as he watched Claude walk down the hallway.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“Not if I have someone as a lookout. Now hurry up, time is of the essence.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“We’re both going to get caught…” Sylvain mumbled to himself but followed behind Claude nonetheless, deciding it was better than staring at the four walls of his room for the night.</i>
</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ</p>
</div>The sound of birds chirping was the first thing Sylvain registered as he started to wake up. He groaned softly, blinking slowly against the dried flakes that formed around his eyes over night and tried to bring up a hand up to rub away at them. However, at the slight move of his arm, he felt a weight that kept it in place, and he decided to use his other hand instead. As he did so, he looked down to see the man that had fallen asleep on him.<p>Claude always looked the most peaceful when he was asleep, Sylvain realized. His breathing was even, the crease of his forehead was gone, and his lips avoided the natural downward curve that he wore when he was awake. Not to mention the way he cuddled up to Sylvain’s side was enough to make anyone think he was more sensitive than he really gave off. But that must be normal when you’ve been with someone for as long as they have been together.</p>
<p>Sylvain pressed a kiss against the top of Claude’s head and the brunet groaned against him.</p>
<p>“C’mon, we gotta get up for the meeting,” Sylvain said, though he wasn’t exactly sure what time it was.</p>
<p>“Five more minutes,” Claude mumbled, nuzzling his face against the side of Sylvain’s bare chest.</p>
<p>He hummed in consideration then nodded, figuring five more minutes couldn’t hurt that much. Therefore, he shifted to get more comfortable and kept his arm tight around Claude as his gaze was directed to the ceiling. Thoughts and memories filtered through his mind, including everything from tasks that had to be done later that day to moments of time from his youth. Suddenly, one memory in particular came into his head and he chuckled softly.</p>
<p>“...Hey, do you remember that night I asked you out on a date and you said you’d get back to me about it?”</p>
<p>“Five minutes,” Claude mumbled again.</p>
<p>“I’m giving you five minutes, but this is your price to pay for them.”</p>
<p>He exhaled deeply, a second passing before he lifted himself to rest on his elbows. Half lidded eyes looked at him and, in return, Sylvain smiled before giving him a quick peck on the lips. Claude hummed.</p>
<p>“I remember, that was back when we were still students.”</p>
<p>“You never got back to me about it.”</p>
<p>“That was over six years ago.”</p>
<p>“I can’t believe it's taking over six years for you to tell me if you’re free for a date.”</p>
<p>“We’ve been on a countless number of dates and outings by now.”</p>
<p>“Yet not the one from that night,” Sylvain laughed.</p>
<p>Claude laughed as well and shook his head at his playful foolishness. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his lips. Sylvain kissed back, moving his hand to tangle his fingers into the morning mess that was his hair. One kiss became two, then three, and stopped at four as they became flushed against one another.</p>
<p>A lazy hand trailed down Claude’s side, curving along with the shape of his hips and moving only when the brunet swung a leg over Sylvain to straddle him. Their kiss slowed and both of Sylvain’s hands found Claude’s hips to pull him down onto his lap. He was already half hard and sensitive, partially because of early morning hormones but mostly because of the feel of Claude everywhere on him.</p>
<p>Above, Claude slowly rocked his hips against him, more focused on his lips than anything else. But Sylvain could feel him growing against him. Soon, their lips separated and quiet pants were shared between them instead. Sylvain’s hand moved to wrap around the both of them and seconds later, they both reached their climax with low gasps.</p>
<p>Claude kissed Sylvain’s cheek, trailing down to his neck where he gave one last kiss before nuzzling into his shoulder. “I think I’m free later tonight,” he mumbled and Sylvain could feel his lips twitch.</p>
<p>“Are you? Guess I’ll have to get back to you after I see if <i>I’m</i> free or not,” Sylvain responded, laughing as he was given a light hit to his chest.</p>
<p>"I love you," Claude said with a roll of his eyes.</p>
<p>"I love you too."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Implied morning after still counts, right??</p>
<p>Casual reminder that Claude and Sylvain are cute dorks in love and that I have a <a href="https://twitter.com/VenJubilation">Twitter</a>.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>